Reimer Ivang

E‐Markets in the Battle Zone Between Relationship and Transaction Marketing!

Buyers are increasingly turning to online applications in their negotiations with suppliers. This means that more and more suppliers are facing the demands to negotiate and trade via e‐markets, auctions and e‐procurement systems etc. Special types of e‐markets are working as transactional forums, increasing competition and resulting in an intense focus on price, whereas other types of e‐markets support collaborative long‐term relationships. From a marketers perspective the two different outcomes of e‐market participation demands special strategies and approaches. This paper describes and analyses the impact of buyers using reverse auctions in their negotiation with suppliers and outlines four potential, strategic possibilities as answers to the competitive landscape created by reverse auction participation. The paper covers the rationale for, and theories of, transactional and relational marketing followed by a company case, finally we discuss potential solutions.

B2B inter-organisational digitalisation strategies: Towards an interaction-based approach

Purpose – Digital technology is increasingly important for businesses as it has the capability to enable, support and sometimes influence the overall strategic direction of the corporation. This paper investigates business‐to‐business (b2b) inter‐organisational digitalisation strategies in one of Denmarks biggest companies with an annual turnover of €3 billion and over 30,000 employees. This paper specifically seeks to understand to what extent the widely used strategic continuum (planning – incremental) is sufficient to understand the process of creating inter‐organisational digitalisation strategies in the case.Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilises degree of freedom analysis (DFA). DFA is in essence a “pattern‐matching” between theoretical propositions and observations in a set of data. Inline with the DFA tradition in‐depth interviews were conducted and finally the results and interpretations are returned to the respondents for final feedback.Findings – This paper concludes that a strategi...

The Internet’s Influence on Market Commitment, Uncertainty and Risk in the Internationalization Process of SMEs

How can small firms leverage the Internet when seeking to expand their business abroad? This question has been at the centre of academic inquiry ever since the introduction of the Internet. Yet, there has recently been a number of calls for more research to explore how the Internet as a global techno-social system can add value as a driver of internationalization in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) (Plakoyiannaki et al. 2014; Reuber and Fischer 2011; Sinkovics et al. 2013). With this study, we aim to address this call for research. Drawing on the Uppsala internationalization process model (Johanson and Vahlne 1977, 1993; Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul 1975) we explore how SMEs can leverage the Internet to create value when seeking to expand their business abroad by reducing the amount of risk associated with doing business in foreign markets. The Uppsala internationalization process model is one of the most extensively used theories within academic inquiry on SME internationalization (Coviello and McAuley 1999; Ruzzier et al. 2006) and highlights important factors which impact on the internationalization process (Fillis 2001).

Internet-enabled internationalisation: A review of the empirical literature and a research agenda

The purpose of this paper is to review existing empirical research on internet-enabled internationalisation and make suggestions for future research, which could promote theory development and advance the research topic. In total, 47 studies were included in the review. The review demonstrates the need for additional research on numerous issues, including exploring the important role of complementary organisational resources and the long-term effects of internet-enabled internationalisation. The findings from this literature review demonstrate that while research on internet-enabled internationalisation has advanced over the past few decades, numerous questions remain unanswered. This provides fertile ground for continued development in internationalisation research.

A dual approach to IS strategy: two cases illustrating a dynamic, interaction-driven approach to IS strategy

This paper discusses IS strategising and how the combination of the planning and the incremental approaches can enable successful IS strategising. IS strategising is conceptualised as a dual organisational process in which the network and the hierarchy positively coexist through group-learning processes. The findings from two case studies illustrate the theoretical framework. An analysis of 28 interviews reveal the complexity of IS strategising and show that IS strategising is best understood as a dual dynamic-interactive processing which the choice of strategic approach is not a dichotomy but more of a both/and decision. The overall conclusion is that IS strategy, because of increased uncertainty and environmental complexity, must encourage interaction between key stakeholders who implement and use the IS technology. The dual organisation and the experience-based group-learning processes help organise the process of IS strategising so that improvisational and dynamic competencies can emerge.

B2b Inter-Organisational Digitalisation Strategies - Towards Interaction Based Approach

The digital technology is increasingly important for businesses as it has the capability to enable, support and sometimes influence the overall strategic direction of the corporation. Thus, strategies that define how, why and when companies plan to utilise the digital technology are increasingly important. The purpose of the article is to analyse what different strategic processes are used in the empirical context and further discuss to what extent the widely used strategic continuum (planning - incremental) are sufficient to understand what is happening in the case. We conclude in the article that a strategic continuum spanning from planning to learning, where the incremental approach is in the middle is more powerful as an analytical tool in relation to the specific cases. The research is conducted in one of Denmarks biggest companies with a annual turnover of 2.2 billion EUR and over 22,000 employees.